Joe Jonas on Life After the Jonas Brothers & His New Band, DNCE, a Non-Stop Pizza-Loving Party
From left: Jin Joo Lee, Jack Lawless, Joe Jonas, and Cole Whittle of DNCE. Photo: Courtesy
“Weird works.” That’s the sentiment with which Joe Jonas concluded an December 2013 essay for New York Magazine after the split of his powerhouse family band, Disney standard bearers The Jonas Brothers. It was a refreshingly candid, sometimes embittered venting from the middle member of the trio, and offered a rare look behind the curtain of the painfully calculated world of teen pop, a world Jonas seemed eager to leave behind. What his next step would be was the more open question.
Admittedly less Energizer Bunny-driven than his preternaturally talented younger bro Nick—who promptly set himself on a post-Brothers course of reinvention that qualified as the pop rebirth of the past year—Joe was initially less certain of his path. He DJ’d, he opened a restaurant—Santa Monica’s Hinterland—and he turned up front row at a slew of fashion shows, at times to cheer on his recent girlfriend, Gigi Hadid.
Eventually, though, Jonas concluded that music was where he still belonged, but with a twist—as the leader of a dance funk band that would look back to the future. He teamed with songwriters including the Swedish duo Mattman and Robin and Justin Tranter, ex- of New York trash/alt/glam band Semi Precious Weapons, and recruited some old friends to play with, drummer Jack Lawless and guitarist Jin Joo Lee, who had toured with the Jonas Brothers years before. Add one live-wire bassist in Tranter’s former Semi Precious band mate Cole Whittle, drop a vowel in your act’s name and voilá: DNCE was born.
“Weird” is of course relative. While DNCE’s relentlessly upbeat tunes, like infectious breakout “Cake By the Ocean,” a sexy come-on that willfully drops F-bombs, might not have flown in Jo Bro world, but Jonas doesn’t care. His new band is a breezy, non-threatening good time that is unlikely to rustle any feathers this side of Westboro Baptist. Their live shows—I was witness to one at a recent New York stop at Webster Hall’s smallish Marlin Room—are start-to-finish parties. The band’s name floats on Mylar balloons, flanked by life size cardboard figures of random celebrities, from Lady Gaga and Robert Pattinson to Darth Vader and part of the cast of Modern Family. And their set list included beloved pop chestnuts like Prince’s “Kiss” and TLC’s “No Scrubs” along with DNCE’s own cheeky fare. At one recent show, they even bought pizza for all in attendance.
DNCE had a style connection from the jump, debuting their music at a series of pop-up showcases during New York Fashion Week in September, and sartorially, they’re “anything goes.” There’s Jonas and Lawless’s tendencies to keep it basic in jeans and vintage tees; Lee’s embrace of the rock chick role, in leather jackets, pink faux fur and ever-present, multicolored shades; and the thrift shop-meets-outer-space-punk affect of the outré Whittle, who’s a big fan of jumpsuits and has been known to mix Thai boxing shorts with Christmas sweaters. They’re quite a sight and their prime directive is to have fun. Here they stop for a moment to talk matters musical and sartorial.
Lawless, Jonas, Whittle, and Lee of DNCE. Photo: Courtesy
Yahoo Style: Guys in true tongue-in-cheek DNCE style, you’ve called this the “Greatest Tour Ever Tour.” Has it in fact lived up to that billing?
Joe Jonas: So far so good! We’re selling out! The reaction has been kind of overwhelming. We weren’t sure really how it would be, especially with putting tickets on sale just a week before the tour. We were like, ‘F— it. Let’s go on tour!’ But then people around us were like, ‘Okay, you’ve got less than a week to get this sold.’ But it’s been really amazing.
Sounds like it’s been a party every night. You even bought pizza for everyone at your Chapel Hill show?
Cole Whittle: Yeah, who doesn’t like free pizza? In emoji speak, what’s the simplest deduction of what people like? Is it crying baby, slice of pizza, drink on the beach, sad face? It’s free pizza, so we were like, let’s do it! Want to have a shopping cart on stage? Let’s do it! Or like, steal cardboard cutouts of celebrities and put them on stage!
Yeah how does that work? Where did you get them and are they traveling with you, these cutouts?
JJ: It started at the first tour stop in San Francisco. We were at a radio station and they had this cutout of Lady Gaga. And Cole toured with Gaga for years, and the first visit we ever had at TRL, it was Gaga’s first visit as well. So we all kind of have history. And it was just a moment where we were like hugging this cardboard cutout, and they were like, ‘You guys can have it.’ And then in the next city, we saw one and we just stole it. And now it’s like in every city, fans are bringing these cutouts. They brought one of us today! We’ve just got a collection. I mean we’ve sacrificed some, they go flying and people rip em up.
CW: Yeah, we decimated Justin Bieber the other night. It was nothing personal, it just happened. Joe had two of himself, his former self and his younger self.
YS: An old shot, from years ago?
JJ: Yeah it was pretty good. I was in Ed Hardy and everything! And we were having some fun backstage, and I chopped my head off with a high kick.
YS: Well, no Ed Hardy for you anymore. But there is some Diesel on this tour.
JJ: Yeah they’ve really hooked us up, and we’re gonna be working with them even more. We just went to the store and they were like, ‘Have fun!’
YS: DNCE is definitely not short on style. Did you always envision a certain aesthetic when you were creating the band?
JJ: Yeah, I think I’ve always had an interest in fashion and that we all have our own individual thing. That’s what DNCE is, it’s a party that invites whoever wants to be a part of it. And I think we all have a different style sense that we bring to the band: Jin Joo being this bad ass guitar player that I think a lot of the females that come to the shows really look up to; Jack is like this surfer rocker, who kind of just got off a surf board; and obviously there’s Cole, who just landed off a space ship!
DNCE! Photo: Courtesy
YS: As for yourself, you seem to keep it basic, vintage, tee shirts, usually black—old Kodak or popcorn logos on them.
JJ: Most of the time, yeah. I mean a year from now it could be a completely different conversation, but I think we’re getting more and more comfortable just being ourselves. Again for me personally, it’s just that feeling where you just feel so confident that you can wear whatever you want on stage. You could even be naked and still feel like you’re the shit.
CW: I have!
YS: Jin Joo, I’ve seen you rock black, white, and red on this tour. Are those your main colors?
Jin Joo Lee: That’s what I brought for this tour. I try to match everything with my lip color. So when I do the red lip, I want to wear the red shades and red vest. And when I want to do all black, black leather, I might do some like hot pink shades, something like that.
YS: And wearing sunglasses has become your signature look. Have you always worn them?
JJL: Well, it happened very naturally, like we were fitting for our music video, and because we were outdoors, by the ocean, they had really cool shades, and I wanted to wear them. And Joe was like, “Why don’t you wear them all the time?” And it started to become my thing, and I loved it. I feel good with shades on, and it kind of puts my personality more out, it gives me character.
YS: Jack, I’m not sure if you’d agree but you seem like the most conservative one of the bunch, style-wise.
Jack Lawless: I think that’s fair. It’s like, I’m willing to do anything but at the end of the day, I can only be myself, you know? I mean I’ll wear crazy shit, if something calls for it. I’m not against it.
CW: I don’t think it’s conservative, it’s just laid back.
JL: I’m just laid back. Yeah. I’m just jeans, tee shirt, that’s easy for me.
YS: Cole, it seems like there is nowhere you won’t go looks-wise. And anyone who remembers you from Semi Precious Weapons knows this is not a new thing. Have you been this adventurous style-wise your whole life?
CW: Well there was a dead period. Like, from when I was born until I was maybe 9 or 10, I went to a Catholic school. And one Friday a month you got to dress up and wear whatever you want. So I would literally wear like a Superman cape and like Ron Jon Surf Shop tie dyed shorts, and like a sweater with the arms cut off. And then I guess the world, my environment in Richmond, Virginia, kind of beat me up into being kind of a nerd. When I got seriously into music and I started studying jazz, and going into more like nerdy areas I think I just let that go.
YS: At Berklee [College of Music] you couldn’t really look too crazy?
CW: You can. But for some reason my mind was closed to it. And then I moved to New York. And I started Semi Precious Weapons and I realized, ‘Oh gosh, my job now is to be that six year old kid on Fridays, who does whatever the f— he wants.’ And that’s who I’ve been for the last decade, you know? I’ve had this haircut for a decade. I’ve been naked or not naked, I’ve looked like an eviction notice for a decade. I’m into it. This is me. I look like a serial killer with Old Navy on. [laughs]
YS: Are you guys ever concerned that having this really strong visual presence is going to make people take DNCE less “seriously” as a band?
JJ: I think that musically, we take it seriously for sure. They’re all incredible musicians, and we play our hearts out, we leave everything on that stage. But also we get excited when somebody sees us or is looking at our music video and they’re like, ‘This is just wacky, crazy fun. I want to be part of the party.’ So right now we’re not too concerned with whether people might think like, ‘Is this a serious band?’ Right now I think it’s just, ‘This is a party that is traveling on a tour bus.’
YS: I know you took some time after the Jonas Brothers to try and figure out your next path. Is it good to be back in music?
JJ: It’s a blessing. This is kind of a second chance for a lot of us. We’ve all had opportunities to do other things—whether it’s bands, be in bands, travel and tour. And the fact that we get to have attention again—and obviously, yes there is an audience that is coming to these shows because they know me from a familiar day and age, and maybe they’re still coming, or not. I mean we’ve seen people come to shows and be like, maybe it’s just not for them. You know? Maybe it’s a little bit too crazy or too wild. We’re open to whoever wants to listen to us. Whoever doesn’t, so be it, it’s all good. It’s what we want, what makes us the happiest, and we’re gonna keep doing it.
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